Financial Times: Volvo is preparing to issue bonds for the first time as a standalone carmaker as the Swedish company enters the next phase of its turnround having recently developed a new manufacturing platform and launched upmarket models.

Financial Times: Valeant chief executive Michael Pearson is to take a medical leave of absence after being admitted to hospital with a case of severe pneumonia over Christmas, sending shares in the drugmaker down 10%.

The Guardian: Saudi Arabia has announced plans to cut government spending and reform its finances after plunging oil prices resulted in a record annual budget deficit of nearly $98 billion (£66 billion).

Business and economics

Financial Times: Banks advertised almost 50% more legal jobs in 2015 than a year earlier, as massive fines for past legal failings and escalating regulation made lawyers the most in demand professional in the City.

Financial Times: James “Jim Bob” Moffett is stepping down as executive chairman of Freeport-McMoRan, capping a year of turmoil at the US copper and oil group after it came under fire from activist investor Carl Icahn and began to restructure in response to a savage commodity price slump.

Financial Times: Adidas is not facing pressure to trim its portfolio beyond the sale of footwear brand Rockport and several golf labels, despite the recent arrival of three big activist shareholders, the German sportswear group’s chief financial officer has said.

Financial Times: Sharp’s share price jumped 7% in Tokyo on Monday after the chief executive of Foxconn said he could turn the company round in just three years if the Japanese government would let him.

The Guardian: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has vigorously defended his company’s motives for rolling out free basic internet services across India, dismissing what he called “false claims” by critics who say its Free Basics service promotes a “walled garden” controlled by Facebook.

The Guardian: British manufacturers will shed tens of thousands of jobs next year as they battle a tough export market, the fallout from steel plant closures and a collapse in demand from the embattled North Sea oil industry, an industry group has forecast.

The Guardian: A new report into disposable incomes highlights how lower spending on essentials in 2015 meant Britons were able to buy more luxury items like jewellery and watches as well as spending more on their homes and gardens.

The Independent: Coca-Cola reportedly paid a nutrition expert and university professor $550,000 to run the company’s “balanced” obesity campaign.

The Independent: The number of Amazon Prime customers grew by three million in the third week of December alone as shoppers looked to save on shipping holiday purchases.

Daily Mail: Britain launders billions every year for foreign crooks because deterrents are so woefully inadequate, according to corruption watchdog.

Daily Mail: China Telecom’s chairman has become the latest executive to become embroiled in the country’s corruption scandal; Chang Xiaobing, who is also chief executive, was initially reported missing on Sunday before it emerged he was suspected of committing ‘severe disciplinary violations’.

The Daily Telegraph: Saudi Arabia is burning through foreign reserves at an unsustainable rate and may be forced to give up its prized dollar exchange peg as the oil slump drags on, the country’s former reserve chief has warned.

The Daily Telegraph: Volkswagen's flagship Audi division has reined in its spending plans for 2016 in the wake of the scandal over rigging emissions tests.

The Daily Telegraph: Japan’s business leaders have put a dampener on the government's plans for an economic revival next year, warning that they will not attempt to increase salaries in 2016.

The Daily Telegraph: The masters of the investment banking universe have pushed the global corporate spending spree to $5.02 trillion (£3.37 trillion) in 2015 making it a record year.

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